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Blitz Week

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Blitz Week
Part of Strategic bombing campaign in Europe
DateJuly 24–26 & 28–30, 1943[1]: 244–5 
Location
 Nazi Germany: Hamburg (25th), Hanover (26th), Kassel (28th, 30th), Kiel (25th, 29th), Oschersleben (28th), Warnemünde (25th, 29th)
 Norway: Herøya & Trondheim (24th)
Belligerents
 United States  Nazi Germany
Casualties and losses
100 aircraft
1,000 aircrew killed, wounded, captured, or missing[1]: 242 
Main article: Strategic bombing during World War II
Not to be confused with Big Week.

Blitz Week was a period of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) aerial bombardment during the 1943 Combined Bomber Offensive of World War II.[2] Air raids were conducted on six of seven days as part of Operation Gomorrah, against targets such as the chemical plant at Herøya, Norway, which produced nitrates for explosives;[1] and the AGO Flugzeugwerke AG plant[3]: IV-48, 51  (an Operation Pointblank target) at Oschersleben, Germany that assembled Focke-Wulf Fw 190s. The Kassel mission on July 28, 1943, was the first use of auxiliary external fuel tanks on the P-47 Thunderbolt.[4]

Attack on Norway

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Aftermath of Ladehammerkaia in Trondheim from the allied attack in 1943

Norway was an important foothold for Germany due to strategic positioning and its connection to Swedish iron mines, connecting Lulea, Sweden to Narvik, Norway.[5] On July 24, Trondheim and Herøya were attacked by the Eighth Air Force in their very first attack on the country; Trondheim was home to a large Kriegsmarine U-boat base and Herøya sheltered industrial plants producing magnesium and aluminum metals and nitrates for explosives, owned by the German company I. G. Farben.[6] The highly successful attack on the processing plants struck a great blow to the German Luftwaffe, forcing them to find a new supplier for critical metals for aircraft. The Eighth Air Force brought along 167 1st Bombardment Wing B-17s, a single YB-40, and 41 4th Bombardment Wing B-17s. The attack on Norway was also the first time a splasher beacon was used during poor weather.[7]

Bombing of Hamburg

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Hamburg after being bombed by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force in 1943

During the last week of July in 1943, The Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces(USAAF) launched an offensive against Germany in the form of air raids in which 1,000 combatants were either killed, injured, or went missing.[8] The United States of America launched these air raids alongside the United Kingdom, which they called Operation Gomorrah. Hamburg was deemed an important strategic target due to its housing of U-boats and oil refineries in the region. Because the Nazis knew and understood the importance of Hamburg, the city was ringed with anti-aircraft weapons and 1,700 shelters were provided for its 230,000 citizens.[9] To counter the radar use in Hamburg, British bomber crews applied strips of tin foil, known as Chaff, to the bomber which would be dropped to confuse the radar screen and would appear as a cluster of targets on the screen. Britain's first attack came on the 24th, with the USAAF to follow the next day, but they ran into difficulties navigating the city due to the large amount of smoke the RAF had caused on the night before.[10]

Operation Pointblank

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Operation Pointblank was the code name for the main part of the Combined Bomber Offensive, and was focused on crippling Nazi Germany's aircraft production to create less resistance when invading the rest of Europe controlled by Germany.[11] Operation Pointblank began on 14 June 1943 and lasted until 19 April of the next year.[11] The USAAF focused on attacking aircraft factories during the day in "precision attacks” forcing the Luftwaffe into defending them and luring them into air battles; losses of trained pilots meant that even though German aircraft production rose, the combat efficiency of the Luftwaffe was reduced.[12] During Operation Pointblank, both the USAAF and RAF had attacked several targets including: Shweinfurt, Regensburg, Oshersleben, Warnemünde, and Kassel.

Oschersleben

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During the last week of July 1943, the Eighth Air Force launched several high-effort missions against aircraft production factories in Germany. General Ira C. Eaker and Fred Anderson were crucial in the planning of these attacks and had focused on the northern part of Germany, where the Eighth Air Force had routinely operated.[13] The factories that were targeted were the AGO Flugzeugwerke located in Oschersleben, Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in Warnemünde, and Fieseler Flugzeugbau in Kassel. These factories produced the notable Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter planes. The attack began on 28 July, but the 120 B-17s from the 4th Bombardment Wing that had set out for Oschersleben ran into poor weather and became separated.[14]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Coffey, Thomas M. (1977). "Decision over Schweinfurt: The U.S. 8th Air Force Battle for Daylight Bombing". New York: David McKay Company. p. 242, 244–5, 265.
  2. ^ "Blitz Week | Operations & Codenames of WWII". codenames.info. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  3. ^ Jablonski, Edward (1971). Airpower.
  4. ^ Arnold, Henry H.—Foreword (June 1944) [Special Edition for AAF Organizations, from May 1944]. AAF: The Official Guide to the Army Air Forces. New York: Pocket Books. p. 334.
  5. ^ Garnet, David (1941). War in the Air. Doubleday. p. 112.
  6. ^ "Norwegians Report on Fortress Raids: Damage at Trondheim, Heroya in July 24 Attacks Marked". New York Times. Aug 1, 1943.
  7. ^ Hammel, Eric (2009). Air War Europa: Chronology: America's Air War Against Germany In Europe and North Africa, 1942–1945. p. 157.
  8. ^ Coffey, Thomas M (1977). Decision Over Schweinfurt: The U.S. 8th Air Force Battle for Daylight Bombing. David McKay Company. p. 242. ISBN 978-0679507635.
  9. ^ Trueman, C (19 May 2015). "The bombing of Hamburg in 1943". History Learning Site.
  10. ^ Middlebrook, Martin; Everitt, Chris (1985). The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book. Viking. p. 410.
  11. ^ a b Gruen, Alan L. Preemptive Defense, Allied Air Powers Versus Hitler's V-Weapons, 1943–1945. pp. 4, 5.
  12. ^ Zaloga, Steve (2011). Operation Pointblank 1944 : defeating the Luftwaffe. Long Island City, NY: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781849083850. OCLC 676726859.
  13. ^ Yenne, Bill (2015). Hit the Target: Eight Men Who Led the Eighth Air Force to Victory Over the Luftwaffe. p. 189.
  14. ^ Chant, Christopher. "Operation Blitz Week".
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